Fernando Diniz is the owner of Restaurante Caravela in Orléans. After immigrating to Canada from Portugal in 1985, he would often go back to his native island of Terceira in the Azores to visit his parents and siblings. When his parents passes away he decided to turn his childhood home into a guest house for his friends and customers.

He began renovating the four-bedroom home in the spring of 2022. He returned several months for another six-week stretch to finish the work, which included adding an additional bathroom, a covered deck in the back, a private second-floor terrace and a gazebo in the backyard.

This past summer, 24 different couples stayed at the house and enjoyed Fernando’s hospitality as their host. All of the couples were either friends of Fernando’s, or regular customers at the restaurant, who wanted to visit Terceira for a week or two and see where Fernando once lived and grew up.

After a successful first summer, Diniz is already taking reservations for summer 2024.

To find out more about what's in store when you visit Terceira and stay with Fernando visit the Itinerary page and to view pictures of Terceira visit the Gallery page.